We read in Holy Scripture, in regards to Jacob, that “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:12). The symbolism of this dream is very important, for it tells us that rather than believing that we simply “go to Heaven” or that, on the other hand, we somehow become unconnected to God, because of our bad behavior; that, in fact, what exists for each one of us, is a ladder, so created for our benefit and for our good use. Those then that step up that ladder and therefore ascend, are those that are performing good deeds in this world, as well as keeping God foremost in their mind. These same steps that lead down should not though be interpreted as a reversal of our good work, but rather to indicate that God’s angels are ever here to descend down to us, so as to assist us in finding our proper place and therefore our proper destination for our being.
So too, it should be recognized, that those that contemplate the greatness of our God, are those that look up to that which created us, and in order for us to get to where we need to go, it cannot be accomplished by those that simply drop to their knees and do nothing; but rather it necessitates our taking appropriate actions for the good of societies, so that therefore step by step by our good deeds, we get ever closer to where we need and ought to be. Additionally, life can be seen as a battleground, of which that ladder in which angels descend to us, are our fellow companions to keep us focused upon that of which really matters, indicating to us, at all times, that God to His creation is never a one-way pathway, but necessitates an open-door policy, which provides us forthwith with free will, of which by that freedom comes inherent responsibility and further to that, our sacred obligation to that which breathed us into existence, at the beginning.
So then, first off, we need to find that ladder, and second to that, we need to get our mind right so that we can successfully perform those necessary things to begin our ascent up that ladder. Those then, that unfortunately are too earthly bound are caught within the construct of that which is an endless repetition of what this earth so represents for them, a continuous merry-go-round that neither progresses nor regresses, but simply goes around in the same ceaseless circle, forever.
Each of us has been blessed with a thinking mind, and those then that take the time to contemplate the why of our existence will surely find the answer to that question should they persistently search for such hard enough. We are meant to find our destiny, and that destiny lies above not below. Jacob’s ladder is God’s perpetual gift to us, providing us with the stairway that will not only bring us enlightenment, but also eternal sanctuary, along with the renewed knowledge that out of many we are meant always to be just One.